During World War II, Americans produced
the most formidable glider force in the world. More Waco CG-4A
gliders were built at the Ford Motor Company plant in Kingsford MI
than anywhere else in North America.

The gliders and allied airborne forces
spearheaded all major invasions and operations of the war
starting
with the invasion of SicilyNormandy on July 10, 1943.

A restored World War II Waco CG-4A, manufactured at the Kingsford Plant, is located in our Museum.

"The intrepid pilots who flew the gliders were as unique as
their motorless flying machines. Never before in history had any
nation produced aviators whose duty it was deliberately to crash
land, and then go on to fight as combat infantrymen. They were no
ordinary fighters. Their battlefields were behind enemy lines."

"Every landing was a genuine do-or-die situation for the
glider pilots. It was their awesome responsibility to repeatedly
risk their lives by landing heavily laden aircraft containing
combat soldiers and equipment in unfamiliar fields deep within
enemy-held territory, often in total darkness. They were the only
aviators during World War II who had no motors, no parachutes, and
no second chances."General William C. Westmoreland, U.S. Army, Retired

The 15-place CG-4A glider's wingspan was 83.6 feet and its
overall length was 48 feet. In the CG-4A, the floor was made of
honeycombed plywood, a construction technique that provided strength
with minimal weight. The load-bearing capacity of the floor enabled
the CG-4A to carry 4,060 pounds, which was 620 more pounds than the
glider's own empty weight.

The entire nose section (including the pilot's compartment) of
the CG-4A swung upward creating a 70 x 60 inch opening into its cargo
compartment. This made it possible to quickly load and unload the
glider. Types of cargo were fighting men, a jeep with radio equipment
and driver, radio and operator plus one other soldier; two soldiers
and a jeep trailer loaded with combat supplies; a 75mm pack howitzer
with 25 rounds of ammunition and two artillerymen; a small bulldozer
and its operator.

The CG-4A could be towed at a maximum safe speed of 150 miles
per hour with a gross weight load of 7,500 pounds. It was often towed
at a slower speed of 110 to 130 m.p.h. The gliders were usually towed
behind a C-47 tow plane on a 350 foot long and 11/16 inch diameter.

The instrument panel contained an air speed indicator, an
altimeter, a rate of climb indicator, a bank and turn indicator, and a compass.
All of these instruments had originally been manufactured for use in
powered airplanes where engine vibrations would keep the indicator
needles from sticking. The glider pilots flying their vibrationless
aircraft frequently tapped all indicators to be sure they were giving
correct readings.

The outside appearance of the CG-4A gave an illusion of simple
construction. The final production models actually contained just
over 70,000 parts.

A total of 13,909 CG-4As were manufactured by 16 companies
during World War II - more than the number of B-17, B-25 or B-26
bombers; P-38, P-39 or P40 fighters, or any of the C-46, C-47 or C-54
transport airplanes manufactured during that same time period.

Unlike powered airplanes that could either be flown directly
overseas or shipped to distant ports fully assembled on the decks of
aircraft carriers, gliders had to be shipped unassembled in wooden
crates. Just one CG-4A glider, for example, required five enormous
wooden crates to be shipped overseas. And again, unlike powered
aircraft, which were ready for combat almost immediately upon
reaching their destinations, the relatively delicate gliders required
several days to be gently unloaded from cargo ships, uncrated, and
painstakingly reassembled before they were ready for their test
flights. This time-consuming shipping procedure was to be a source of
considerable grief for the Allies throughout the war.

The Iron Mountain Iron Museum has a great video on the
manufacturing of the CG-4A gliders. It shows these huge crates being
shipped out by train to a staging area before transport overseas.

The CG-4A glider came into its own on D-Day with the invasion
of Normandy. Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of
German-occupied France started on June 6, 1944. Operation Overlord
was launched from the sea against one of the strongest armies in the
world, inside the most elaborately equipped defensive network ever
created.

By February of 1944, a total of 2,100 crated Waco CG-4A gliders
had been shipped to England from American factories. The only people
left to assemble them were untrained British Civilians. The results
were disastrous and in October, the IX Air Force Service took over
and managed to put together 910 Wacos by the middle of April. With
only five weeks remaining until D-Day, the glider shortage had barely
been conquered in time.

Almost all the gliders used in Normandy in June were
lost.

The gliders lost at Normandy were replaced by Americans working
furiously at home and by our IX Troop Carrier Command in England. The
manufactured and assembled gliders by working as many people as
possible in three shifts to meet the demand. By Sept 15, the IX Troop
Carrier Command had 2,160 gliders. On the evening before the attack
on German occupied Holland, there were only 2,060 glider pilots so
the co-pilots became pilots. The pilots knew that if they were
incapacitated during the four-hour flight across the water to their
objectives in Holland, there would be no one on board qualified to
conduct a safe emergency landing.

Many of these gliders were lost in the invasion of
Holland.

Americans continued to manufacture, assemble and fly gliders
until the end of the war in May, 1945.

American glider pilots fought and gave their all in the
European, Pacific, and China - Burma - India Theaters during World
War II. All glider pilots were awarded the Air Medal for each combat flight they made. The citation accompaning the Art Medal for Normandy was worded as follows:

"The magnificent spirit and enthusiasm displayed by these
Officers combined with skill, courage and devotion to duty is
reflected in their brilliant operation of unarmed gliders of light
construction at minimum altitudes and air speeds, in unfavorable
weather conditions over water, and in the face of vigorous enemy
opposition, with no possibility of employing evasive action, and in
their successful negotiation of hazardous landings in hostile
territory, to spearhead the Allied invasion of the continent. Their
respective duty assignments were performed in such an admirable
manner as to produce exceptional results in the greatest and most
successful airborne operation in the history of world aviation."

Top picture, Building the Gliders, the
U.S. Air ForceSecond picture, Unloading a Glider, from
the Mining Museum Exhibit, courtesy of the Menominee Range Historical
Foundation.Third picture, Glider Under Tow, from the
Mining Museum Exhibit, courtesy of the Menominee Range Historical
Foundation.Fourth picture, Attack on German Occupied
Holland, the U.S. Air ForceFifth Picture, Troops Landing by Glider,
from the Mining Museum Exhibit, courtesy of the Menominee Range
Historical Foundation.

Much of this information found in Silent
Wings by Gerard M. Devlin, St
Martin's Press, New York 1985

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